silver fire, gold fire
by lydiamaartin
Summary: She's no dreamer, but she understands dreams far better than reality. - Teddy, Victoire, and a night under stars.


**Disclaimer: Characters are JKR's. Song is Snow Patrol's.**

**For the Song of the Day Challenge with the song Chasing Cars and the prompts field, towel, and sky.**

**Dedicated to Mad (chasingafterstarlight) and Bri (swirling-summernotes) because they're awesome and they're both writing/have written TeddyVictoire fics to celebrate our tumblr (go check it out; link on my profile :D) and I love them :)**

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><p><em>Forget what we're told<br>before we get too old_

Finding Victoire has never been an easy task, not since she was five years old and learned how to play Hide and Seek.

Today, though, the evening of her seventeeth birthday, Teddy finds her remarkably easily, sitting out in the grassy field near the Burrow, her legs dangling in the river and her blue eyes fixed on something far over the horizon, something beyond his wildest imagination – she's Victoire, and she's no dreamer, but she understands dreams far better than reality.

"Hello, there, birthday girl," he greets cheerfully, dropping down next to her with a flourish and a grin to put her at ease. "What's a pretty girl like you doing out here all alone instead of inside stuffing your face with cake like the rest of your cousins?"

Victoire laughs, though it's light and nothing like her usual, bubbly giggles. "I'm…I don't know. Thinking, I guess." Her voice sounds far away, lost in a different world, and it takes him a moment to realize where he's heard her dreamy inflection before – Lucy talks like that all the time.

Teddy raises an eyebrow and nudges her shoulder playfully. "Thinking about what, Torie?" he prods. "Or is this some big secret you can't even share with your best friend?"

She sends him a look full of affection and childhood promises and sweet laughter that sets his heart beat-beat-_beating_ like it's playing drums, and then she looks away, back towards the velvety black sky dotted with stars of silver and gold. "Maybe."

He frowns, lead forming in his insides at her reply – they're _TeddyandVictoire_, for Merlin's sake, and they're best friends and they tell each other everything. So, what's she hiding from him?

"Does that mean there _is_ some big secret?" he wonders out loud, scooting closer, close enough to hear her breathing and inhale her mango-and-lemonade scent. "'Cause, Torie, you know you can tell me anything, right?"

Victoire inhales, exhales, and her breath escapes in a sigh. "Sometimes," she murmurs, as if confiding in him a great secret, "I wonder if dreaming is worth it."

Teddy blinks, startled. In all seventeen years he's known her, he's never heard something quite like that come from her. "Uh, pardon? What do you mean, is it worth it? It's just dreaming."

She looks at him, really _looks_ at him, and the sky-bright shine of her blue eyes almost breaks his heart, because there's something in there that's _haunted_, something _broken_, something he's never noticed and wonders how he could have possibly missed – something _happened_ to her, and he doesn't know what.

"Like…" Victoire sighs, running a hand through her strawberry-blonde curls absentmindedly. "Like Narnia, Teddy. You remember when I gave up on believing in that, right? Because it was silly and childish and – and – "

Her voice breaks.

"It was too _beautiful_ for me."

Teddy swallows, wondering how to help her, how to heal this pretty young girl – _woman_ – whom he might have inadvertently fallen in love with somewhere along the way, while she's struggling with her dreams and her faith and there's something like _love_ in her voice, and it breaks his heart.

"Listen," he whispers, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and drawing her near. "You don't ever have to stop dreaming, Torie. No matter how silly and childish it is, because it's _always_ worth it. You know that and I know that. And no matter what happened – " There's a pause as he struggles with his phrasing. " – _in_ Narnia, you'll always have your memories and you dreams, and nobody and nothing can take that away from you."

Blue eyes stare at him in utter silence.

Then she's got one arm around his neck and the other fisting in his shirt, tugging him down until their lips meet in an explosion of dreams and stars and fireworks and everything he's ever wanted all rolled up in one mass of _forever-and-always_ and _happily-ever-after_.

Victoire pulls back first with a smile that lights up her whole face. "How do you always know just what to say?"

Teddy laughs. "Happy birthday, Torie," he tells her affectionately. "Let's just stay here and forget the world, shall we, before your grandmother calls you in to get a towel and cookies?"

She tilts her head onto his shoulder, and for the first time in a long time, his heart is light. "Let's," she giggles, as day fades to night and stars stud the sky with silver and gold fire.

_If I just lay here,  
>would you lie with me and just forget the world?<em>

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><p><strong>Author's Notes: Hope you liked this! If you read it, please leave me a review to let me know what you thought - it would make my day :) Thank you!<strong>

**Don't favorite without reviewing, please and thank you.  
><strong>


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